Ducks Fall to Pioneer 11-5

The Oregon Ducks and Denver Pioneers faced off in a hard-fought conference match with play-off seeding on the line Friday at Pape` Field with Ducks coming up short, 11-5.

The Ducks had a hard time gaining momentum in the early part of the first half and ended up giving away four shots within the first 14 minutes of the game.

Though the Ducks attempted to make a comeback late in the first half scoring two goals, they were unable to keep up with Denver’s potent offense and ended the half trailing 8-2. The two goal scorers for the first half were Olivia Pyne and Shannon Propst.

The Ducks seemed to gain a little more momentum in the second half scoring three goals in the first 13 minutes after the break, cutting the Denver lead to three at 8-5.

However, Denver regrouped to score to score the last three goals of the match for the 11-5 final score. The Oregon scorers in the second half were, Oliva Pyne and Nikki Puszcz (2).

After another hard conference loss, Coach Jen Beck still sees that there are things the the Ducks can improve on to help win the next game.

“I think that we just came out scared and we stayed tight and we didn’t ever loosen up. When we were on fire, it was really awesome, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep that momentum.”

The Ducks will take to Pape` Field for the final time this season on Sunday to face Colorado. The Ducks ended this game with an over all record of 10-6, and a 6-2 record in the MPSF.